Frederick



vPannerdens. SEARS, or CHARLESTOWN, MASSACHUSETTS.

I Letters Patent No. 91,777v 6, dated June 22,-1869.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK S. SEARS, ofCharlestown, in the county of Middlesex, and State of' Massachusetts,have invented an Improved Butter- Chest;l and I do hereby declare thatthe following, taken in connection with the drawings which aecompany andform part of this I specification, is a description of my inventionsufficient to enable those skilled in the art to practise it. l

l n keeping butter for sale in warm weather, dealers place thebutter-containing boxes and rkius in large ice-chests, in which the iceis placed directly upon the bottom oi' the chest, and as the water fromthe melted ice -is generally irnperfectly led off, the butter-firkinsand boxes stand in water, greatly to the injury of the butter containedtherein, and as the walls of these large chests are generally made ofunlined wood, they soon become permeated with water, thereby adding tothe impure dampness of the chest.

My invention relates to the construction of such receptacles forbutter-containing boxes and irkins, with reference to provision forholding and draining the ice, in such manner as to leave the wholefloorspace or body of the chest unobstructed by the ice,

which is contained in a chamber over the rear part of the chest, saidchamber opening at bottom into the main chamber, through spaces betweentiers of draining-shelves, the edges of which shelves overlap, so thatif water drips from the edge of one, it falls upon the shelf beneath.

It is in a butter-chest having this construction, that my inventionconsists.

The drawings representa chest embodying the improvement.

, A shows a vertical cross-section of the chest. B, a section on theline ai az.

a denotes a case having aheight, in Vthe clear, somewhat in excess ofthe height of the largest sizes of butter-rkins, and having anydesirable length and width in the clear.

At the front part of the top of this case is a lid, b, covering anopening, which, when uncovered, freely permits admission and removal ofthe firkins of butter, a front'ilap, c, being thrown down, if necessary,to facilitate such admission and removal.

Back of the'lid b, the chest is covered by an upright. case, d, thespace in which forms au ice-containing chamber, c, the ice beingpreferably put into the case thronghan end opening, f, closed by a flapor door, g, arid resting upon cross-slats or bars h.

Below' these bars or grid arc series of drip-shelves, i, each inclininginward, the two inner ones being over a trough or wide'shelj, having atits opposite edges upturned lips, k.

The space between the adjacent edges of each two adjacent shelves,allows the' air to circulate from Iall parts of the chest freely againstthe surfaces ofthe ice on the grid-bars, and as the cold air descends,it keeps the whole buttercontaining chamber frigid or cool, while allthe water running from the ice as it melts, drops upon the shelves, andis, by them or by the lower shelf, conducted oii through a Suitable'drain or wastepipe.

Over the grid-bars a sheet of wire cloth may be laid, to prevent dirt,or other foreign matters upon the ice, from dropping into thebutter-containing chamber.

. The ice-containing box may be laid upon the chest, (atongue-and-g1oove connection enabling the box to be readily removed, andmaking a suliciently-tight joint when the box and chest Vare t0gether,)or the walls of the lbutter-containing chamber may be extended up, toform the ends and outer side of the same.

I claim the combination of thechest a, constructed substantially asdescribed, with the ice-containing chamber e, series of dripping-shelvesi, and trough j.

Y FRED. S. SEARS.4

Witnesses:

FRANCIS GoULD, J. B;OnosBY.

